Brewery, restaurant anchor next phase of Town CenterPlans
include apartments, condos

By Gary Achterberg - News Graphic Staff

July 25,
2017

Developers want to renovate
a century-old brewery, above, into a microbrewery and
restaurant, below, at the corner of Mequon Road and Buntrock Avenue. Photo by Mark Justesen

Submitted rendering

MEQUON — Plans for Mequon’s
Town Center are taking an ambitious leap
forward as plans for a third major
development along Mequon Road await initial
consideration by a city committee in August.

Details of the long-rumored
plans for a restaurant and microbrewery are
just part of a multifaceted Foxtown project
on a 17-acre site on the south side of
Mequon Road and west of the railroad tracks
in the Town Center neighborhood.

The project will get its
initial public introduction Aug. 7th, when
Mequon’s Planning Commission conducts a
conceptual review.

In addition to the
microbrewery and restaurant, the plans
contained in a 62page document filed with
city staff include 96 luxury apartments, 23
“porch home” condominiums, a brewery and
beer hall and a two-story building that will
house retail, a possible restaurant and
office space.

The development team includes
local owners, developers, architects,
builders and managers. Many in the group
recently proposed taking the lead and
raising funds for a community project that
would remake much of the nearby civic
campus, including the city pool and Rennicke
Field.

An outdoor beer garden is one of the features of
restaurant and brewery proposed at the corner of Mequon
Road and Buntrock Avenue roads Submitted rendering

The proposal calls for the
project to be built in phases. Here is a
summary:

■
Brewery/restaurant – The historic
19th-century brewery on the southeast corner
of Mequon Road and Buntrock Avenue would be
renovated into a 6,750-square-foot
beer-themed restaurant with an outdoor beer
garden. The site will include a public beer
hall with a dance floor and banquet hall
seating. The sit-down restaurant is
described as casual with a medium-priced
menu. A zoning variance to allow the craft
brewery would be required. There would be 66
parking spots. A fall 2018 opening is
anticipated.

■
Mixed-use retail/commercial – The two-story
building along Mequon Road would be
12,000-square-feet to 14,000square-feet with
parking for 79 cars. The proposal
anticipates a “casual bar atmosphere
restaurant” and a Chicago-style pizza
concept with a rooftop 2,000-squarefoot
three-season room and balcony. The building
would include additional retail space with
commercial offices on the second floor.

■
Luxury apartments – There would be two
buildings of luxury apartments along
Industrial Drive. Each would have 48 units.
Phase one, including a clubhouse and pool,
would open in the summer of 2019. Phase two
would open the following summer. There would
be 184 parking spots – 140 underground and
44 on ground level.

■
Brewery/beer hall – The renovation of 13,000
square feet of buildings bordering the
railroad tracks would include a
microbrewery, sit-down “casual, low-priced
barfood menu” and an outdoor beer garden
pavilion. There will be parking for 111
cars. A zoning variance to allow the brewery
would be required. A summer 2019 opening is
anticipated.

■
Retail/office/residences – Three new
buildings along Industrial Drive would
include retail, office space and 11
extended-stay corporate residences. The first
portion of the project would open in the
summer of 2020 as part of a three-year
phased development.

■
Condominiums – The 23 single-family
porch-style homes in a pocket neighborhood
at the far southwest end of the development.
Each unit would have a two-car garage, for a
total of 46 parking spots. An additional 29
street parking spots are proposed. There
would be a common neighborhood gazebo and
patio pond overlook. The first phase would
open in 2020 and the entire development
would be completed in three years.

The Foxtown proposal comes on
the heels of Spur 16, the proposed second
phase of the Town Center that will be
located across the street and include
apartments and retail. The first phase of
the Town Center, located at Mequon and
Cedarburg roads, recently celebrated its
second anniversary.